WATTS: Clinton Township ice boat racers among nation's best

Griffin Sherry is only 15 years old, but the Clinton Township teenager raced with the big boys and finished in fifth place out of 42 competitors at the North American Gold Fleet Ice Boating Championship held on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minn.

Griffin’s father, Ron, finished in second place in the North American Gold Fleet, but he admitted his son taking fifth place was the talk of the regatta held near the Mississippi River.

The North American Gold Fleet Champion was John Dennis of Minnesota. Ron Sherry had two third place and a fourth place finish to take second overall.

But the surprise was Griffin who placed 6th, 9th and 17th in his three heats to place fifth overall. Griffin said he trained in December at the Western Challenge Cup and in January at the Western Regionals competition before last week’s big race.

Advertisement

“The first race I sailed in Gold Fleet in North American regatta I actually got eighth place, but the wind shifted ninety degrees and completely died so the race ended up getting thrown out,” Griffin explained.

“The next day we raced and the wind was really light and right at the beginning I passed my dad and I was really excited and laughing. But in the end my dad ended up passing me.”

Griffin said he sailed in a DN iceboat which was first designed in Detroit in 1936. “It is 12 feet long 8 feet wide and has a 16 foot mast with 60 square feet of sail area,” he said. “The hull weight is 46 pounds.”

The ice boat is made by Ron Sherry, who Griffin said he owes his knowledge of the sport to. “The boat is very fast,” Griffin said. “It is like a personal rollercoaster.”

Meanwhile, the Ice Boating World Championships were also held on Lake Pepin, Minn. The top three finishers for the Gold Cup World Championship was Tomasz Zakrzewski of Gdansk, Poland, who repeated as World Champion. He also won in Sweden last year.

Ron Sherry finished a disappointing fourth at the World Championships.

“If I said I wasn’t disappointed I would be lying,” Ron Sherry if Clinton Township said. “In reality, having someone else win using my equipment will sell more boats than winning myself.”

Sherry entertained ice boaters from around the world and said “delivering 12 people, from all around the world to and from Minnesota safely and having as much fun as we did was an awesome experience,” he said. “There were sailors from Sweden, Germany, Russia, and Holland in our caravan.”

Sherry said the DN Class of ice boats is made up of a diverse group of individuals from around the world.

“We prepare and compete at the highest level, but when we get together after a day of racing, we are all brothers,” Sherry said.

Outdoorama trivia question

Michigan United Conservation Clubs organized the first Outdoorama sports show in celebration of conservation in 1974 at the old state fairgrounds in Royal Oak.

Over the years the show has undergone changes but the one constant has been the strong conservation foundation on which it was built. Conservation will be prevalent throughout the 2013 show when Outdoorama comes to the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Feb. 21-24.

Dozens of conservation-minded groups, organizations and agencies will be at the show promoting the wise use of our natural resources.

They include: MUCC, Michigan Sea Grant, Lake Superior State University’s Aquatic Research Laboratory, and Michigan and Ohio DNR will all be on hand to answer patron’s questions about resource management.

Yep, it’s going to be a good one, and so is this week’s trivia question.

There are many different hunting and fishing licenses in Michigan. The cost of a restricted fishing license is $15 and an upgrade to an all-species license is an additional $13. Who can purchase an all-species license for $1?

Send your answer to wattstksrh@hotmail.com. We will randomly select readers who respond with the correct answer. The winners will receive two free tickets ($20 value) to

Outdoorama. And if you get it right and don’t win ticket, you still will be automatically entered in a random drawing for a Grand Prize package, including a rod and reel combo and a lure pack, valued at $100.

OK, now last week we had a typo by adding a decimal to the gauge. Gauge is in fact commonly used in reference to shotgun sizes with the 12 gauge, 16 gauge, 20 gauge and 28 gauge models as some of the most popular; the smaller the number, the bigger the barrel. The exception is the .410 shotgun.

Last week’s question was: What does the .410 stand for in our smallest shotgun?

The answer: The .410 is the caliber of the gun. It means the diameter of

the barrel is 0.410 inches. If the .410 caliber shotgun was referenced as a gauge, it would be a 68

Thank you everyone for the unprecedented number of responses to last week’s question. All winners can pick up your tickets Feb. 21-24 at the Outdoorama Show Box Office. For more information, visit www.outdoorama.com.

SCI Bowhunters chapter fundraiser

The annual Safari Club International Bowhunters Chapter Wild Game Dinner is Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Berkley American Legion.

The wild game dinner is donated by chapter members and prepared by Blue Ribbon Products. Door open at 6 p.m. and dinner is served at 7 p.m.

There will be a Whitetail Big Buck Contest. One winner for Bow and Gun for each category. Categories include: Best Michigan, best Michigan Youth, and best non-Michigan. All winners receive Cabela’s gift certificates.

Additional activities include: Member Swap Meet (bring in good stuff that you’d like to trade or sell); Trophy photo contest (from 2012 season); and door prizes and 50/50 raffle.

For more information, call Kevin Mulkeran at (248) 379-6878 or visit www.scibowhunters.com.

Just a reminder

The Clinton River Muzzleloaders will hold the annual Winterfest today at the Detroit Sportsmen’s Congress, 49800 Dequindre Road in Shelby Township. The 15-shot woods-walk match that starts at 10 a.m. Registration is 9 a.m. to noon. Visit www.d-s-c.org. … Perch Point Conservation Club, 7930 Meisner Road, in Casco Township will hold a Sportsman’s Swap Meet and Gun Show on March 2. Items available will be guns, knives, bows, arrows, hunting and fishing equipment, camping and outdoors fear. Call (810) 278-5630 or (586) 738-5038. … The Clinton River Watershed Council will host a Weekly Clean Program every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon that will help clean up local rivers and lakes. Every third Wednesday of the month there will be an additional clean up from 3-5 p.m. Visit www.crwc.org. … The annual Winter Free Fishing Weekend is Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16-17.